These materials are gathered together because they are all related to the American Civil War. They were acquired through a variety of means over the years. Those items with accession numbers beginning with “72” were originally part of the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) Collection. The items with accession numbers beginning with a number other than “72” were either donated to or purchased by Chicago Public Library.

Access

No restrictions.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection the preferred citation is: American Civil War Photographs and Images and Grand Army of the Republic Photographs and Images, [Accession #], Special Collections, Chicago Public Library

Processed by

Johanna Russ, December 2017. Some preliminary processing done by Amber Creger, 2005, and Special Collections staff.

Historical Note

Near the end of 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union. Within a few months, ten more states had seceded. The American Civil War officially began April 12, 1861, at Fort Sumter in Charleston, South Carolina. Illinois participated on the Union side by sending hundreds of thousands of troops into battle. Many military and political leaders trace their roots to Illinois. The war lasted nearly four years, ending on April 9, 1865, when the Confederacy surrendered. A few days later, on April 14, 1865, President Abraham Lincoln was assassinated.

Not long after the war ended, veterans began forming organizations. One of the longest-lasting was the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), begun in April 1866 in Decatur, Illinois. Posts were established in different places, grouped under state-level departments, in turn grouped under a national commandery-in-chief. The GAR disbanded in 1956 when the last veteran died.

In Chicago, the GAR Memorial Hall Association shared space with Chicago Public Library (CPL). In 1883, the Library Board chose the corner of Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street as the location for its future building. At the time, the site was vacant and known as Dearborn Park, named for its proximity to the site of Fort Dearborn. Because of this proximity, many people believed the land was reserved for the GAR. Ultimately, legal action determined the library could have the land, but it had to make room for the GAR, which wanted a memorial hall for its members. CPL gave the GAR extensive rooms and signed a fifty year lease that expired in 1947. At that time, the Library took over caring for the GAR’s significant collection of art, artifacts, papers, weapons and more. With the GAR’s material as a base, the library has continued to build its Civil War collection over the years, with a focus on the Illinois experience.

Scope and Content

Images in this collection predominantly relate to the American Civil War—its battles, rank and file soldiers, leaders, veterans, politics and symbolism. A large portion of this material focuses on soldiers and leaders from Illinois, with a wider focus on soldiers from the American Midwest. Many formats are represented, from early photographic formats like tintypes to postcards to oil paintings. For more information on the printing process of an item, please contact Special Collections.

Arrangement/Series Description

The collection is arranged in five series: Individuals; Two or more individuals; Commemoration; Scenes of active duty; and Illustrated documents and symbolic or political art. Please see the index at the end of the guide for assistance in finding people and subjects.

This series features images of individual people, often soldiers or military and political leaders. One of the most prevalent formats in this series is the photographic carte-de-visite, which was somewhat like a Victorian trading card. The series is arranged alphabetically by last name of individual and then by accession number. Unidentified people are listed at the end, numerically by accession number.

Accession numbers 72.988.3.1-72.988.3.60 are found or were originally found in the 77th Illinois Infantry photograph album. It is possible this album belonged to Milgrove Parmenter (seen in photo 72.988.3.14). The 77th was formed with men living in and around Peoria, Illinois, in 1862 under the command of David Grier. The 77th fought at Vicksburg, New Orleans and other areas in the Gulf region. They mustered out in July 1865 in Mobile, Alabama.

Accession numbers 72.986.1-72.986.50 are found in the Officers of the 11th Illinois photograph album. The 11th was organized in 1861 in Cairo, Illinois, under the command of W.H.L. Wallace. The unit fought at Fort Donelson and Shiloh in Tennessee and Vicksburg in Mississippi. The men mustered out in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1865.

Accession numbers 72.915.1-72.915.24 are found in an unnamed album with unknown provenance. The images in this album are mostly of Civil War leaders. Those photographs of rank and file soldiers most often depict men from Massachusetts regiments.

Items with accession numbers beginning with 80.1-80.34, along with 89.11.42 and 89.11.45, belonged to Captain Israel Parsons (I.P.) Rumsey, one of the original officers of Company B of the 1st Illinois Light Infantry, called Taylor’s Battery because it was organized by Captain Ezra Taylor. Rumsey was a member of the Chicago Board of Trade and later lived in Lake Forest, Illinois. Company B mustered in on July 21, 1861 and fought in sixteen battles including Shiloh, Vicksburg and Atlanta. The photographs in this series that depict groups of soldiers were taken in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1862. See also Reunions of Taylor’s Battery, 18th Anniversary of the Battle of Fort Donelson, February 14, 1880; 25th Anniversary of the Battle of Belmont, November 6, 1886 (call number: E505.8 1st B.U55 1890).

This series features groups of people or pages from albums with multiple individual portraits on one page. Items in this series are arranged numerically by accession number. Please refer to the index for assistance in finding individuals.

First appearing in this series are images from two formally arranged and published albums: The Army of the Cumberland Album and Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign. Images from these albums appear in subsequent series as well.

It is possible that the Army of the Cumberland Album (accession numbers 72.438.1-72.438.38) belonged to Albert Dickinson, a soldier in Taylor’s Battery who survived the war and went on to become a prominent businessman in Chicago. The album includes 38 pages of photographs that feature scenes from the unit’s time in Southeast Tennessee, around Chattanooga, and Northern Alabama. Images depict members of the unit’s leadership and medical staff, as well as scenes of camp and scenes from the unit’s marching between camps.

Photographic Views of Sherman’s Campaign features the photography of George N. Barnard who took pictures in the field as Official Photographer of the Military Division of the Mississippi. 61 images were published by the Press of Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, New York, in 1866. The full title explains the contents: Photographic Views of Sherman's Campaign, Embracing Scenes of the Occupation of Nashville, the Great Battles around Chattanooga and Lookout Mountain, the Campaign of Atlanta, March to the Sea, and the Great Raid through the Carolinas. A digitized version can be found on Chicago Public Library’s website.

This series contains images of people, places, events and monuments that commemorate people and events related to the American Civil War. It is further subdivided into four subseries: Subseries A: Buildings and Interior Spaces; Subseries B: Funerals; Subseries C: Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and veteran groups; Subseries D: Monuments, historic markers and statues to battles, leaders and military units. Within each subseries, items are arranged numerically by accession number.

This series features photographs taken contemporaneously during the Civil War, or images created later but depicting events during the Civil War. The items are further subdivided into seven subseries: Subseries A: Battlefields; Subseries B: Bridges; Subseries C: Camp; Subseries D: Marching; Subseries E: Scenes in Northern States; Subseries F: Prisons; Subseries G: Ships and steam engines. Within each subseries, images are arranged numerically by accession number.

Includes scenes from various battlefields around the country such as Shiloh, Atlanta, Vicksburg, Chattanooga, Gettysburg and sites in Maryland and Virginia. Please refer to the index for assistance in locating specific sites.

This series includes illustrated documents such as famous speeches or rosters of particular military units, as well as symbolic and political artwork. One subseries is separated, Subseries A: Adalbert J. Volck. Images are arranged numerically by accession number.

Features political drawings by Adalbert J. Volck. Volck was born in Germany and moved to the United States sometime around 1848. He became a dentist and settled in Baltimore. Though he was not a soldier, Volck was a Confederate sympathizer, and he used his border location to smuggle items across blockades to the South. Volck was also an artist, and he made etchings under the name V. Blada with strong anti-Union sentiments. These scenes were first published during the Civil War and then in a limited run again in the 1880s. Series 5, Subseries A includes numerous prints from the 1880s reprint. These rare images include caricatures of Abraham Lincoln, raids by Union soldiers and unflattering images of the North.

Image List

Series 1: Individuals

72.988.3.37

77th Illinois album – Box 16

Carte-de-visite photograph, Joel Allen, 4” x 2.25”, undated.

72.915.13

Civil War album –Box 16

Carte-de-visite photograph, J.P. Almy, 4” x 2.25”, undated. Written on the back, “New Bedford, Mass. Killed the summer of 1873 by an ‘Apache’ in Arizona. [Illegible] while an officer in the 5th US Cav.”

Cabinet card painted photograph, Harry King Burgwin, Jr., 6.5” x 4.25”, undated. “Col. 26th North Carolina Infantry. Killed while leading his regiment, colors in hand in the attack of Pettigrew’s Brigade on the Iron Brigade at Gettysburg July 1st 1863.”

72.937.3

Box 10

Photograph, William H.S. Burgwyn, 8.5” x 10.5”, undated.

72.58.8

Box 1

Carte-de-visite photograph, Ambrose Burnside, 4” x 2.5”, undated. Published by E. Anthony, New York from photographic negative from Brady’s National Portrait Gallery.

Carte-de-visite photograph, William B. Cushing, 4” x 2.5”, undated. Photograph by Brady’s National Photographic Portrait Galleries, New York & Washington, D.C. [This does not look like the same person when compared to other images of William B. Cushing.]

72.429

Box 4

Photograph, Miss Major Pauline Cushman, Union spy, 4.5” x 4”, undated. “Miss Major Pauline Cushman the Union spy and scout who was captured and sentenced to death as a Federal Spy and was rescued at Shelbyville, Tenn. By the Union Army under General Rosecrans.”

Carte-de-visite photograph, Samuel Francis Du Pont, 4” x 2.5”, undated. Published by E. Anthony, New York from photographic negative from Brady’s National Portrait Gallery. Taken when he is younger.

72.58.21

Box 1

Carte-de-visite photograph, Samuel Francis Du Pont, 4” x 2.5”, undated. Published by E. & H.T. Anthony, New York from photographic negative in Brady’s National Portrait Gallery. Taken when he is older.

Carte-de-visite photograph, Elmer E. Ellsworth, 4” x 2.5”, 1861. Photograph by Brady’s National Portrait Gallery. Ellsworth was a personal friend of Abraham Lincoln and was the first Union soldier to die in the Civil War.

Carte-de-visite photograph, James Gardner, 2.5” x 4”, undated. Photograph by Alexander Gardner, Photographer to the Army of the Potomac, Published by Philip & Solomons, Washington, D.C. Established photographer, Alexander Gardner’s portrait of his brother.

Album of etchings, “U.S. Grant Album,” 5.25” x 4.25”, undated. Depicts scenes from the life and death of Ulysses S. Grant.

91.4.5

Box 13

Photograph, Ulysses S. Grant, 4.5” x 6.5”, 1891. Negative by Alexander Gardner, 1864, photograph by M.P. Rice, 1891. This image was produced in 1891 from the only original untouched negative made in 1864 at the time Grant was commissioned by President Lincoln as the Lieutenant General of all Armies of the Republic.

Print on tile, Adaline L. Griggs, 3.75” x 5”, 1867. Griggs, of Urbana, Illinois, married John C. Black around the time of this image.

72.929.14

Box 8

Print, William Grose, 5” x 3.75”, undated.

2009.7.4

Box 13

Photograph, Thomas Grosvenor, 6” x 8”, circa 1864. Photograph by W.H. Stoddard. Grosvenor fought in the Civil War, served as a lawyer for the City of Chicago and was killed in the aftermath of the 1871 Chicago Fire.

Carte-de-visite photograph, “Rebecca, a slave girl from New Orleans,” 4” x 2.5”, 1863. Photograph by M.H. Kimball. Back reads, “The nett [sic] proceeds from the sale of these Photographs will be devoted exclusively to the education of colored people in the Department of the Gulf, now under the command of Major General Banks.” Shows an African American girl.

Photograph, tombstone of James Stewart, Arlington National Cemetery, 4.875” x 6.75”, 1907 July 28. Photo is mounted on board along with a newspaper clipping that describes the unveiling of the tombstone by Charles McConnell.

Cabinet card photograph, William E. Strong, 6.5” x 4.25”, 1865. Strong served in the 12th Wisconsin Volunteers and died in Florence, Italy, April 10, 1891. He is “famed for shooting three rebel captors and escaping.”

Photograph, Mary E. Walker, 3.875” x 5.5”, 1913. Walker was a medical doctor and women's rights advocate, who served during the Civil War and spoke of her experiences stationed at the Libby Prison at a lecture in Chicago in 1913.

Print, “First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet, from the original picture painted at the White House in 1864,” 23.5” x 35”, undated. Engraved by A.H. Ritchie, painted by Francis Bicknell Carpenter.

72.150

Oversize Folder 2

Photograph, Compilation of individual portraits of members of Company B, 31st Iowa, 19” x 23.5”, 1865 June 17.

Print, Abraham Lincoln and his secretaries, John Nicolay, John Hay, 4.25” x 3.5”, 1861. Image by Dennis Williams, Crayon Artist, Springfield, Illinois. “Entering upon his first term of office as President.”

Print, “The Three Colonels of 26th North Carolina Regiment,” 5.25” x 3.875”, undated. Painting by William George Randall. Image shows from left John R. Lane, Harry King Burgwyn, and Zebulon Baird Vance. Biographical information printed on back.

Print, “The First Reading of the Emancipation Proclamation before the Cabinet,” 21” x 32.25”, undated. Based on original painting by Francis Bicknell Carpenter, 1864. Includes names of cabinet members.

Postcard, “President Lincoln and Family in the White House,” 3.5” x 5.5”, undated. Reproduction of painting depicting Abraham, his wife, and three sons, Robert T., William W. (“Willie”) and Thomas (“Tad”).

2008.45.2

Box 13

Carte-de-visite photograph, “The last Likeness taken of the President and his son Thaddeus [Tad],” 2.5” x 4”, undated. [Photograph by Alexander Gardner.]

Series 3: Commemoration

Subseries A: Buildings and Interior spaces

72.319

Box 3

Photo electrotype, Ninian W. Edwards Residence, Springfield, [Illinois], 3.25” x 5.5”, after photograph taken in November, 1886. Image by Photo Electrotype Eng. Co., New York. “House in which Lincoln and Mary Todd were married, and in which the latter died.”

Print, “Stage and Proscenium Boxes of Ford’s Theatre as they appeared on the night of President Lincoln’s assassination,” 6.75” x 9.625”, undated. Engraving by Hughfort Haugley and based on two photographs by [Matthew] Brady.

12 bound album pages with labeled photographs of people and sites related to the life and memory of Abraham Lincoln, album pages 9.75" x 10.5", photos 3" x 3", undated. Includes 38 images. Includes one loose page with four image pasted on.

Photograph, The Blue & Gray Old Soldier Fiddlers at Iron Brigade reunion at Gettysburg with members of the 24th Michigan and the 26th North Carolina, 13.5” x 10”, 1913 July 1. Photograph by Apeda, New York.

Watercolor, Grand Army of the Republic meeting hall in Chicago Public Library, 16.5” x 21.625”, undated. Painting by Rowena Fry.

90.5

Box 12

Photograph album, Grand Army of the Republic parade in Washington, D.C., 1915. Small booklet with 6 images, 3 7/8” x 2 7/8”, showing GAR members in the George H. Thomas Post from Chicago and the McKinley Post from Canton, Ohio.

Photograph, Illinois Memorial National Park, Vicksburg, Mississippi, 7.625” x 9.5”, undated. Photograph by Moore. “This monument contains bronze tablets bearing the name of every soldier who served in an Illinois regiment during the Vicksburg campaign.”

Photograph of Lincoln Memorial on Lincoln Farm near Hodgenville, Kentucky, 6” x 8”, 1915 September. Photograph by Theodore Eitel. “This building contains log cabin in which the great Emancipator was born.”

Photograph, Judge A.F. Smith spiking old cannon from Smith’s Battery, Grant Park, Chicago, Illinois, 3.25” x 4.25”, 1911 April 3. This event likely marked the 50th anniversary of the firing on Fort Sumter, April 12, 1861. Smith’s Battery was Company A of the 1st Illinois Artillery. As of 2016, this cannon resides on the 6th floor of the Harold Washington Library Center.

Print, Groveton Monument for the Second Manassas, Virginia, 4.75” x 4.25”, original 1865 June 11. From photograph by Alexander Gardner.

72.933.26

Box 9

Photograph, Historic markers for Confederate Army of the Mississippi, Union Army of the Ohio, and Union Army of the Tennessee, Shiloh, Tennessee, 4.75” x 6.75”, undated. Photograph by J.C. Donnell, Pittsburg Landing, Tennessee.

Photographs, Unidentified sculpture of seated woman holding a sword on her lap, 9.25” x 12”, undated. The image showing the statue in profile includes a man who is presumably the sculptor.

72.933.31.a-b

Box 15

Photographs, Unidentified monument, possibly for Grand Army of the Republic, 11” x 14”, undated. Photograph by Bilordeaux Photography, New York, copyright by Massey Rhind, New York. A multi-sided obelisk. One side has a relief of a man and says “Loyalty.” Below is the quote “Who knew no glory but his country’s good.” Another side has a relief of a woman and child and says “Charity.” Below is the quote “The greatest of these is charity.”

Photograph, close up of statue of Abraham Lincoln’s face without a beard, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. One of four busts created for the Lincoln sesquicentennial in 1960 showing Lincoln at four stages of his life: youth, pioneer, lawyer and president.

82.40.18

Art & Artifact

Photograph, close up of profile view of Abraham Lincoln’s face without a beard, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. One of four busts created for the Lincoln sesquicentennial in 1960 showing Lincoln at four stages of his life: youth, pioneer, lawyer and president.

Photograph, close up of Abraham Lincoln’s face at ¾ view without beard, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. One of four busts created for the Lincoln sesquicentennial in 1960 showing Lincoln at four stages of his life: youth, pioneer, lawyer and president.

82.40.22

Art & Artifact

Photograph, close up of Abraham Lincoln’s face without beard, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. One of four busts created for the Lincoln sesquicentennial in 1960 showing Lincoln at four stages of his life: youth, pioneer, lawyer and president.

82.40.23

Art & Artifact

Photograph, close up of Abraham Lincoln’s bearded face in profile, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. One of four busts created for the Lincoln sesquicentennial in 1960 showing Lincoln at four stages of his life: youth, pioneer, lawyer and president.

82.40.24

Art & Artifact

Photograph, close up of Abraham Lincoln’s bearded face, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. One of four busts created for the Lincoln sesquicentennial in 1960 showing Lincoln at four stages of his life: youth, pioneer, lawyer and president.

82.40.25

Art & Artifact

Photograph, “The Chicago Lincoln,” 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. A bronze version of this statue of Abraham Lincoln holding papers in one hand and wrapping his other arm around a pedestal with books on top stands in Chicago’s Lincoln Square neighborhood.

82.40.26

Art & Artifact

Photograph, New Salem Lincoln, 15” x 12”, undated. Statue by Avard T. Fairbanks. A bronze version of this statue of Abraham Lincoln holding books in one hand and an axe in the other stands in New Salem, Illinois.

90.3

Box 12

Photograph, Statue of Abraham Lincoln, Dixon, Illinois, 5.75” x 3.5”, 1935 September 24. This statue was erected on the spot where Fort Dixon stood and where Lincoln was stationed as captain of volunteers during the Black Hawk War of 1832.

2008.9.B

Box 13

Postcard, Abraham Lincoln Memorial Park, east of Charleston, Ill., 3.5” x 5.5”, undated. Photograph by L.R. Pollizzie. “World's largest statue of Lincoln, 64 feet tall, is located East of Charleston, Illinois on Route 16…. His father and stepmother are buried near here.”

Map, Battle of Shiloh, Tennessee, 1862. This map shows Confederate plans for the Battle of Shiloh (April 6-7, 1862). According to records of the Grand Army of the Republic, the map was seized five months later in September 1862 by Norman L. Ross of the 20th Illinois Infantry, who found it in the Memphis Appeal Building in Memphis, Tennessee.

Partial atlas of Civil War battlefield maps, 23" x 29", circa 1887. The maps were created under the direction of the U.S. War Department. This item has a CPL stamp from 1887 December 1. The atlas includes the following Civil War battlefield maps, listed with the dates the maps were created:

Photograph, Battle field of Atlanta, Ga., July 22d, 1864, No. 2 [labeled as such in table of contents. Mislabeled on page with same title as plate 40], 14” x 10”, circa 1865. Photograph by George N. Barnard, published by Press of Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, New York, 1866.

Subseries C: Camp

72.403
72.404

Box 4

Pencil sketches by Frederick Stuart Church, 7.5” x 10”, undated. 72.403 and 72.404 were drawn by Church, a private in the 1st Illinois Artillery for J. Henry Long, a fellow private. They depict the humorous side of camp life during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi and include commentary by the artist. Each includes multiple drawings with narrative attached, almost like comic strips. 403 is titled “Expedition of Capt. Wood, Lieut. Hills and Bowers to Farragut’s Fleet,” and 404 is titled “Adventures of Emery and Church by Land and Flood.” Frederick Stuart Church went on to become an accomplished artist and illustrator.

Items with accession number 72.798 are all mounted on board and appear to be taken from a scrapbook or other similar compilation. A., 2.5” x 4”, reads, “Bits of Camp Life.” B., 4.25” x 6”, is an illustration of muskets and an American flag, undated

Subseries D: Marching

Etching of “Old Abe” the eagle on a United States shield, 2.5” x 4”, 1865. Printed by Dunlop, Sewell & Spalding, Chicago. The 8th Wisconsin Infantry carried Old Abe through three years' campaign. Images were sold to benefit the Great Sanitary Fair held in Chicago in May 1865.

90.40.2

Box 12

Newspaper clipping of article about the Civil War Bird “Old Abe the Eagle” that was carried by the 8th Wisconsin Infantry for three years and about the images of him sold to benefit the Great Sanitary Fair, [held in Chicago in May 1865,] 2” x 9.5”, 1935.

Subseries E: Scenes in Northern States

Print, “Soldiers Home,” 12.25” x 9.5”, circa 1865. Published by Jevne & Almini. This building where sick and wounded soldier could go for medical attention stood near 35th and the lake front in Chicago.

Print, Text of “General Grant’s Farewell Address to the Union Army in the field, 1865,” with illustrations, 20.25” x 14”, undated.

72.160

Oversize Folder 16

Drawing, “Centennial,” 29” x 19.5”, 1876. Designed and executed by Daniel T. Ames, New York. Includes multiple illustrations showing the progress of the United States of America from its founding in 1776 through its first 100 years. Includes full text of the Declaration of Independence and the Emancipation Proclamation.

72.322

Oversize Folder 20

Print, Campaign circular for Abraham Lincoln, 14” x 17.25”, undated.

72.528

Box 4

Carte-de-visite print, Jefferson Davis, 3.75” x 2.5”, undated. Image depicts African American soldier hanging caricature of Davis from gallows. “The right man in the right place,” printed at the bottom.

Print, illustrated description of Army of the Potomac, 17.5” x 23”, 1904. Printed by The National Tribune Co., Washington, D.C. Includes images and text listings of its leaders, divisions, principal battles and a map of its activities. Certifies service of Charles H. McConnell in the 24th Regiment of Michigan Infantry.

Print, illustrated description of Army of the Cumberland, 18” x 24”, 1904. Printed by The National Tribune Co., Washington, D.C. Includes images and text listings of its leaders, divisions, principal battles and a map of its activities. Certifies service of Cornelius Baker in Company C of the 9th Regiment of Pennsylvania Cavalry.

89.6

Box 11

Pamphlet of political cartoons about Jefferson Davis, “Jeff Petticoats,” 5” x 8”, [1866]. Published by American News Company, New York, New York. [Artist, Frank Bellew.]

90.28

Oversize Box 15

Letterpress broadside, The Gettysburg Address, 12” x 17”, 1988 April. Designed by Joel Friedlander, illustrated by David Johnson, published by The Petrarch Press.

Carte-de-visite photograph of painting, “Emancipation,” 4” x 2.5”, 1863. Painting by G.G. Fish, photograph by John P. Sowle. Image depicts allegorical vision of Emancipation as a woman. Two presumably recently freed enslaved people kneel beside her wrapped in the American flag.

91.5.7

Oversize Box 15

Broadside depicting soldier with American Flag and a banner reading, “freedom to the slave,” 9.5” x 12”, undated. Includes scenes of African Americans relaxing, reading the newspaper, attending public school, being unshackled by soldiers, and serving in the army. The back includes lyrics to John Brown Song and encourages African Americans to enlist.

Postcard, “Lincoln and the Contrabands,” 3.5” x 5.5”, 1909. Reproduction of painting. Artist and publication information is difficult to read. [Wolf & Co.?] Two letters from Abraham Lincoln are printed on the back, “Farewell at Springfield, Ill.” and condolence letter to Mrs. Bixby who was believed to have lost five sons in the Civil War.

2008.41B

Oversize Folder 27

Map, “Map of the Southern States, including rail roads, county towns, state capitals, county roads, the southern coast from Delaware to Texas, showing the harbors, inlets, forts and position of blockading ships,” 32” x 22”, 1863 December. Prepared for Harper's History of the Rebellion. Includes images of Abraham Lincoln, William H. Seward, George B. McClellan and Winfield Scott. On back are three separate maps. 1. Pictorial map of portions of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina, with the coast line from Cape Henry to Fort Pickens, 20.5” x 14.75.” 2. Balloon view of Fortress Monroe and Hampton Roads, 14” x 9.” 3. Balloon view of the seat of war, 9” x 14.”

2009.2.1

Oversize Box 15

Drawing, Abraham Lincoln of the Lincoln monument holds his head in his hands weeping, 14” x 17.25”, undated. Cartoon by Bill Mauldin.

Subseries A: Adalbert John Volck

72.845

Box 7

Etching, “Passing through Baltimore,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, Abraham Lincoln is traveling to Washington for his inauguration and peeks through a partly open freight car door.

72.846

Box 7

Etching, “Writing the Emancipation Proclamation,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, Abraham Lincoln sits at his desk, writing the Emancipation Proclamation, surrounded by imagery of demons and devils.

72.847

Box 7

Etching, “Battle in Baltimore, April 19, 1861,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, the people of Baltimore attack the 6th Massachusetts regiment as it passes through from one railroad station to another.

72.848

Box 7

Etching, “Searching for Arms,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, Union soldiers ransack a bedroom and find a small Confederate flag, which they show to the upset family whose home they are searching.

72.849

Box 7

Etching, “Enlistment of Sickles Brigade, New York,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image is depicted a crowded street scene with army recruits, a street preacher and a woman selling pipes.

72.850

Box 7

Etching, “Jemison’s Jayhawkers,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, a gang of marauders race through a hamlet, killing people, burning buildings and kidnapping women as they go.

72.851

Box 7

Etching, “Stone Blockade of Charleston, South Carolina,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, the masts of ships rise just above the water. These ships have been sunk to block Union ships from entering the harbor.

72.852

Box 7

Etching, “Free Negroes in the North,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image depicts an impoverished life for free African Americans in the North.

72.853

Box 7

Etching, “Free Negroes in Hayti,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, Haitians are depicted in tribal costume performing a ceremonial child sacrifice.

72.854

Box 7

Etching, “Cave Life in Vicksburg during the Siege,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image shows a southern woman kneeling in prayer in a cave with some belongings from her home. Many citizens of Vicksburg, Mississippi, took refuge in caves during the long Union siege in 1863.

72.855

Box 7

Etching, “Vicksburg Canal,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, two Confederate soldiers spy Union soldiers in the distance building a canal in an effort to bypass Confederate batteries of the Mississippi River and ultimately to divert the River from its course alongside Vicksburg, leaving the city high and dry and strategically unimportant. The canal was never completed.

72.856

Box 7

Etching, “Buying a Substitute in the North,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image shows a man drafted into the Union Army attempting to pay someone to take his place. The cast of potential substitutes is made up of weak, sick and drunk men.

72.857

Box 7

Etching, “Making Clothes for the Boys in the Army,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, Southern women are shown sewing clothes for the fighting soldiers.

72.858

Box 7

Etching, “Slaves Protecting their Master from the Enemy,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, a female slave directs Union soldiers elsewhere as her master hides behind the door.

72.859

Box 7

Etching, “Return of a Raiding Party from Pennsylvania,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, cattle and pigs are herded, along with covered wagons of forage, as the raiding party returns.

72.860

Box 7

Etching, “Valiant Men Dat Fight Mit Siegel,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image depicts plundering Union troops attacking a home while children try to escape through a window and the mistress of the home begs General Franz Sigel for mercy.

72.861

Box 7

Etching, “Formation of Guerilla Bands,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image shows a member of a guerilla band attempting to recruit another who comforts his wife and child outside their destroyed home.

72.862

Box 7

Etching, “Smuggling Medicines into the South,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image shows a common occurrence during the war in the Potomac region, smuggling medicine into the South.

72.863

Box 7

Etching, “Albert Sidney Johnston Crossing the Plains,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. When the Civil War began, Johnston was a Federal officer in Texas. This image shows him returning east to serve in the Confederate Army

72.864

Box 7

Etching, “Election in Baltimore, 1862,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, crowds gather outside the polling place expressing sympathies for both the northern and southern sides.

72.866

Box 7

Etching, “General Stuart’s Raid to the White House,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image shows the Confederate Jeb Stuart’s ride from Richmond around the Union General McClellan’s forces to McClellan’s headquarters in Virginia, the “White House” referenced in the title.

72.867

Box 7

Etching, “Butler’s Prisoners of Fort St. Philip,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image shows Fort St. Philip, about 70 miles north of New Orleans, along the Mississippi River, under Union control after being captured by Admiral David Farragut and General Benjamin Butler.

72.868

Box 7

Etching, “Prayer in Stonewall Jackson’s Camp,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. In this image, Stonewall Jackson leads his men in prayer.

72.869

Box 7

Etching, “Selling Counterfeit Confederate Notes in the City of Brotherly Love,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. This image depicts a man trying to sell Confederate money to two other men.

72.870

Box 7

Etching, “General Stuart’s Return from Pennsylvania,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. Here General Jeb Stuart returning from a raid to Chambersburg, Pennsylvania in October 1862.

72.871

Box 7

Etching, “Offering of Church Bells to be Cast into Cannon,” 8” x 10”, printed circa 1885. Etching by Adalbert John Volck. The artist published a number of anti-Union caricatures under the name V. Blada. Southern clergy are shown offering church bells to melt down for war material.

97.5

Box 13

Book of etchings by Adalbert John Volck, a Confederate supporter, 9” x 12.5”, circa 1880s. Published in Baltimore, Maryland. Includes 26 etchings.